A Sudden Unification
by KireiYume
Summary: Austria and Hungary have been united in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, which means many things will change...including some of their feelings for each other.
1. Chapter 1

**AN: Hey, everyone! My first update in a while (and my first non-video-game-centric update)! (Skip ahead if you don't want historical context—let me know if it is too historical to enjoy.) So, in 1867, the Austro-Hungarian Empire was formed, which was a dual monarchy between Austria and Hungary. They worked separately for quite a bit, but were allied with much more closeness than others. There were lots of hiccups—for example, Hungarians didn't speak Austrian and vice versa—but in the end it proved profitable until they were defeated in 1918. The war I refer to in here is the Seven Weeks War. Also, all non-English is Google Translate and as such I apologize for inaccuracy :P Also, I haven't read much Hetalia, just the web comic—I'm pretty sure I've researched enough to know the canon and read enough fics to know the voices, but let me know if anything is wrong. Anyway, enough with that—enjoy the story!**

Chapter One: Beginnings

 _Austria_

Austria stared at his sheets of music, taking one of his lulls in work to work on his latest composition. It had been a little while—with his defeat in the war against Germany and Prussia and the loss of some of his land, recovering had taken time. And then…there was the matter of the woman that shared his household now. Hungary. Ever since his emperor, Franz Josef II, had decided that he and Hungary should cooperate, they'd been forced into closer proximity. One thing led to another, and before Austria knew it, there was a wedding ring, a ceremony, and a new resident in his household, which had been empty for centuries now. Yes, Hungary was no stranger; they had raised Holy Rome and Italia together, after all. But she'd never been as close as she was now. Before she was a maid. Now she was a wife. And Austria didn't quite know how he felt about it.

A wrong note burst from the piano, nearly making Austria jump. His thoughts were wandering too far from the piano and too close to Hungary. He gave himself an internal reprimand as he continued to play, his fingers dancing across the keys as he played over the first few pages again, making sure they were free of errors. The melody rang strong, a gentle scale making the bass clef line seem to shimmer beneath. Finally…after so long, it seemed nearly perfect. It was beautiful, and finally Austria was absorbed in the music.

"Gyönyörű…" It was almost too quiet to hear, quiet enough to ease Austria out of his reverie rather than jerking him from it. Yet his focus was gone, and he slowly turned as his fingers stilled. Hungary stood in the doorway of his conservatory, her blond hair back in its customary ponytail as her green eyes shimmered. At Austria's inquisitive glance, she blushed. "Beautiful," she translated. "That piece…is it yours?" Austria nodded.

"It is. Was there…anything you needed, Miss Hungary?" An odd feeling rose in Austria's chest. He realized he was staring and quickly averted his eyes, adjusting his glasses to hide the sudden change in his gaze. Such leering was ungentlemanly…and odd. This had never happened before—why, now that Hungary had a ring on her finger, was he having strange, unprecedented feelings?

"No…I didn't mean to interrupt, I just…was hoping to talk to you."

"Excuse me?"

"I mean…you're my husband now." Hungary's blush deepened until her cheeks were rosy. She was never this subdued—was the marriage changing her too? "I haven't really…been around for ages and I thought there might be things that you'd want to know. And you…you've been through wars, changes…things are different now." Austria solemnly nodded, turning around on his piano bench to face his wife.

"All right. Please have a seat," he offered, gesturing to a nearby chair. Hungary obliged, brushing her skirt beneath her. "What information would you like?"

"Well…how have you been?" Austria blinked, surprised.

"Fine?"

"Was that an answer or a question?" Hungary teased, smiling. "I mean it. You were just in a war with Germany and Prussia, after all. And then there was all this. Are you all right?"

"Losses are hardly something I can't handle," Austria replied. "There is no need to worry yourself over my well-being." In truth, the loss of some of his provinces was something he was still recovering from; though he was never fit at his best, Austria now found himself becoming sore and exhausted more easily, weaker in general. Hungary raised an eyebrow, staring at Austria as if to divine his truthfulness.

"You know, you don't have to act invincible," she reprimanded.

"Miss Hungary, I do not act." But even as he finished his sentence, pain shot through his back and his muscles tensed. He tried his hardest to hide his ensuing grimace from Hungary, but even the minutest change of his facial features was enough to make Hungary's eyes glow with concern.

"Are you sure?" she asked, standing up to share the piano bench with Austria. Austria's heart stuttered in his chest slightly; was this a new aftereffect of war? But no, it didn't seem to be harming him…it only spread warmth through his body and gave him a feeling of…giddiness.

"I…" Austria began, only to find that his thoughts were most certainly not occupied with his speech. Hungary shook her head and kissed him gently on the lips.

"Let me know if you need anything, please." She stood and left the room, leaving Austria stunned. He numbly lifted his hand as if to trace where her lips had touched, but let it fall. Normally his brain would have been flooded with reprimands of how improper that situation was, but for once, he didn't care.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

 **AN: I'm finally back with an update! Merry preemptive Christmas! Thank you all for all your support! Liebestraum is a piece by Franz Lizst, a Hungarian composer. Listening to it might help the meaning of the story. :)**

 _Hungary_

Hungary sat at the piano bench, her hands splayed across the keys. This massive thing took up so much space in the living room, and seemed to her like an utter waste of time…but Austria loved it so. He would compose for what seemed like days on end, neglecting even his basic needs in the pursuit of perfection…an attitude she wished that he would apply to their marriage. All affection was instigated by her, and Austria was distant at best. All of her efforts to promote intimacy between them had failed, so she was going to surprise Austria with a grand gesture—learning his latest piece on the piano.

She squinted at the perfectly penned notes, hoping that something would begin to make sense. She had a small amount of knowledge regarding note reading, but this might as well have been in a different language. Accents and slurs and staccato…it might as well have been French. Hungary sighed, pushing away the composition. Maybe it would be best to start out with something easier. A scale, she thought. Austria always played scales before he started a piece, and they looked easy. All you had to do was play the notes right next to each other, right?

Brimming with confidence, she set her fingers on the keys, took a deep breath…and the ensuing noise would have made Mozart roll in his grave. To call it a work in progress would be charitable. Her fingers were inelegant sausages, tangling together and producing discordant sounds left and right. Baffled, she stared at the instrument. What could have gone wrong?

"Hungary?" she heard from the doorway. Hungary jumped and stifled a curse. She could have sworn Austria had been out. His expression as she turned around flushed her face in embarrassment; it was somewhere between shock, horror, surprise, and amusement, and under any other circumstances she would have found it funny. Now, however, it made her stomach turn in worry. "What…exactly, are you doing?" His tone was that of incredulity. Was he upset that she was playing his piano? It _was_ awfully precious to him—she hadn't thought of that. An apology was already forming on Hungary's lips as Austria strode over to the piano.

"Your hands are flat! I'm hardly surprised you're having difficulties. For your fingers to work properly, you must keep a rounded hand at all times, like so." Hungary's jaw dropped, but this was hardly noticed by her husband, who was consumed in his new task. Austria grabbed her hand and moved it to the proper positioning, an action that made Hungary's heart stutter. Austria never touched her. But here she was, her hands in his, even if it was for a non-romantic purpose. "There. Now try it." Hungary started the scale, her hands a little shaky, and another series of discordant notes emerged, more easily this time. "You need to start on two C's, not just one. Here." Austria gently moved her hand two keys down.

This new scale sounded as it should, even though it was cut short by Hungary forgetting to cross over her fingers. A quick demonstration from Austria set this issue right, and quickly, she caught on. Soon the scales sounded pretty, but not as beautiful as Austria could make them sound. Hungary sighed, reflecting on the disappointment that her surprise was sure to be met with. Austria's brow furrowed at this new sound.

"Miss Hungary? What is it? That sounded nice."

"Oh, it's nothing," Hungary replied with a smile. Austria shook his head, taking a second to push his glasses up on his nose before resuming his previous position.

"Is there anything you wanted to learn to play?"

"Do you enjoy any particular pieces? One that might be easy to play?" Austria stood for a second, thinking, and reached to a piece sitting on the top of his piano.

"Liebestraum?" Hungary asked, noting the title. "What does it mean?" In reply, Austria simply turned the cover to expose the music within, a light blush rising on his cheeks. It was so subtle that Hungary wasn't even sure that she had really seen it.

"We will start out very slowly," Austria told her, and showed her how to read the piece. Within a few minutes, she was managing a clumsy semblance of the rhythm.

"How should it sound?" Hungary asked, curious now. She moved aside on the piano, allowing Austria to sit. Wordlessly, he began to play, his fingers dancing across the keys. The piano sang to Austria as he stroked one of the most beautiful rhythms Hungary had ever heard out of the keys. It ended too fast—the notes swirled around her and engulfed her in what was more than merely a "good" piece. Finally, she felt as though she was beginning to understand the love Austria had for this behemoth of an instrument.

"That was amazing," Hungary told him, with a smile. "It seemed so emotional!"

"It was," Austria murmured. Questions started to spring to Hungary's lips, but they were silenced when Austria's lips brushed hers for a moment all too brief, so brief that she could have imagined it. Everything seemed to stop, and her whole body felt flushed. Her heart stuttered, her cheeks turned red, and silence wrapped around her like an embrace. Hastily, Austria stood and walked away, his ears red and his posture overly stiff, leaving Hungary with questions and love swirling in tandem through her mind.


End file.
